Scare Up Some Fun With a Graveyard Bash

Be the ghostess with the mostess this Halloween, and throw a wickedly wonderful celebration. The entertaining experts from the Wilton Test Kitchen know all the tricks and offer plenty of treats for hosting a bonechilling blast that will have friends and family shrieking with delight.

Start by scaring up some fun with an array of graveyard goodies. Tombstone and monster-shaped sandwich cookies paired with ghostly grave­yard cookies set an eerie scene. Add fang-tastic monster-faced popcorn balls, and a parade of monster pretzels — a breeze to make using a Halloween Candy Kit. Pour melted candy into monster molds, insert pretzel rods and refrigerate until set. They are the perfect hand-held treats for kids and look great on display.

There’s no bones about it, a spook­tacular skeleton cake will make for a boo-tiful Halloween centerpiece. Using a skeleton casket pan makes this impressive dessert — filled with fall flavors like cinnamon and apples — easy to achieve. Simply decorate with icing and watch as your skeleton comes back from the grave.

For added fright, surround the coffin with Spooky Pop Cupcakes — swirled with brightly colored icing and things that go bump in the night. Just be sure to pair sweets with a be“witch”ing beverage and you’ll be caught in a web of friends all evening long.

All of these and other terrifyingly terrific project ideas, supplies and more are available at www.wilton.com.

In medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt; set aside. In large bowl, beat butter and sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, and vanilla; mix well. Alternately add flour mixture and applesauce to butter mixture. Spread about 1/2 of cake batter so that it reaches the first horizontal line inside the pan. Sprinkle diced apples evenly over batter. Top with remaining batter, smoothing out the top.

Bake 58 to 62 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan and cool completely on cooling grid.